The present disclosure relates to a cane harvester and a method of controlling cane cleaning in a cane harvester that cuts and cleans a crop, such as sugar cane.
The harvester generally separates the crop into billets, which are ejected into a vehicle alongside the harvester, and residue, which is ejected back onto the field. The residue adds nutrients back into the soil for next season's crop. The billets are taken by the vehicle to a mill for processing, e.g., into sugar. The cleaning process does not necessarily separate all extraneous plant matter from the billets nor eject each and every billet into the vehicle. Some extraneous plant matter may be ejected into the vehicle and some billets may be ejected back onto the field. Extraneous plant matter ejected into the vehicle is also taken back to the mill, along with the billets, where it may be further separated from the billets and used as fuel.